Operation Christmas Child efforts in Northeast Alabama successful

Times Staff Report

Published: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, December 3, 2012 at 12:07 a.m.

Each county in the six-county Operation Christmas Child collection area of Northeast Alabama surpassed its 2012 goal for donation of filled shoeboxes. A total of 22,024 boxes were donated by area residents.

DOUG ENGLE | OCALA STAR-BANNER | FILE
A shoebox for a boy, wrapped in Christmas paper, leans against a bigger box packed by Ocala, Fla., churches that is ready to be shipped off to the Operation Christmas Child regional distribution center in Atlanta on Nov. 28, 2011. Volunteers in Atlanta examine the boxes’ contents to make sure the contents are safe.

Albertville First Baptist Church served as the area collection site, with churches and offices in the five other counties serving as relay sites.

From Albertville, the boxes were transported to the Operation Christmas Child regional distribution center in Atlanta.

Northeast Alabama relay sites were Stevenson First Baptist Church, Southside Baptist Church, the Cherokee Baptist Association office in Centre, Pine Ridge Baptist Church in Fort Payne, Weaver First Baptist Church, Golden Springs Baptist Church in Anniston, First United Methodist Church in Arab and Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro.

Boxes from the Atlanta region will be distributed to children in poverty-stricken, war-torn and natural disaster-devasted parts of Belize, Ecuador, Gabon, Georgia (of the former Soviet Union), Ukraine, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Ghana, India, Latvia and Lithuania.

Donors filled boxes and marked them according to the appropriate recipient’s age — 2 to 4, 5 to 9 and 10 to 14. The boxes also were labeled for a boy or a girl.

The contents were up to the donor, with most giving school supplies, toiletry items, small games and toys, small items of clothing, flashlights and batteries, etc. No liquid items or toys related to violence are allowed.

Volunteers in Atlanta examine the boxes’ contents to make certain that all contents are appropriate and safe. They then are loaded for transportation to the assigned countries.

The Operation Christmas Child program is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, of the Franklin Graham ministries.

Boxes can be accepted any time during the year at the Samaritan’s Purse Headquarters, c/o Operation Christmas Child, 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607.

<p>Each county in the six-county Operation Christmas Child collection area of Northeast Alabama surpassed its 2012 goal for donation of filled shoeboxes. A total of 22,024 boxes were donated by area residents.</p><p>Albertville First Baptist Church served as the area collection site, with churches and offices in the five other counties serving as relay sites.</p><p>From Albertville, the boxes were transported to the Operation Christmas Child regional distribution center in Atlanta.</p><p>Northeast Alabama relay sites were Stevenson First Baptist Church, Southside Baptist Church, the Cherokee Baptist Association office in Centre, Pine Ridge Baptist Church in Fort Payne, Weaver First Baptist Church, Golden Springs Baptist Church in Anniston, First United Methodist Church in Arab and Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro.</p><p>Boxes from the Atlanta region will be distributed to children in poverty-stricken, war-torn and natural disaster-devasted parts of Belize, Ecuador, Gabon, Georgia (of the former Soviet Union), Ukraine, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Ghana, India, Latvia and Lithuania.</p><p>Donors filled boxes and marked them according to the appropriate recipient's age — 2 to 4, 5 to 9 and 10 to 14. The boxes also were labeled for a boy or a girl.</p><p>The contents were up to the donor, with most giving school supplies, toiletry items, small games and toys, small items of clothing, flashlights and batteries, etc. No liquid items or toys related to violence are allowed.</p><p>Volunteers in Atlanta examine the boxes' contents to make certain that all contents are appropriate and safe. They then are loaded for transportation to the assigned countries. </p><p>The Operation Christmas Child program is a project of Samaritan's Purse, of the Franklin Graham ministries. </p><p>Boxes can be accepted any time during the year at the Samaritan's Purse Headquarters, c/o Operation Christmas Child, 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607.</p>